Patricia Morehead

Pat’s new CD on Navona released

Pat’s newest CD, Good News Falls Gently, has now been released on Navona Records. It features settings of texts by acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood, African-American poet/composer Regina Harris Baiocchi, and showcases performances by Carolyn Hove, Jonita Lattimore, Abraham Stokman, Barbara Ann Martin, and Caroline Pittman. It is available through iTunes, at Amazon.com and through many other digital and physical distribution sources.

Here’s the official release:

Composer/oboist Patricia Morehead and Navona Records are pleased to announce Ms. Morehead’s second CD, Good News Falls Gently, officially released in July, 2011. Her previous recording, Cityscape (for full orchestra) is on the ERM label (Kiev Symphony Orchestra).

GOOD NEWS FALLS GENTLY features “Disquieted Souls”, inspired by pre-Christian Celtic legends of goddesses and the supernatural; “The Handmaid’s Tale”, motivated by the chilling, futuristic writing of Canadian writer Margaret Atwood; “It is Dangerous to Read Newspapers”, a reflection on modern times and the proclivity towards bad news; “Ladders of Anxiety”, an abstract work inspired by colorful medical charts that taps into our inner anxieties; and “Good News Falls Gently”, a setting of the poetry of Chicago-based writer Regina Harris Baiocchi that portrays an intense spiritual faith from a feminist perspective.

Compositions on Good News Falls Gently:

DISQUIETED SOULS (2009) was recorded June 12, 2010 at WFMT studio, featuring Carolyn Hove, English Horn; and Philip Morehead, conductor.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE (1998) is inspired by the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. The four movements of this composition reflect the composer’s passionate reading of the Atwood text. It was recorded live in Toronto at a concert of Ensemble Noir; Abraham Stokman & Philip Morehead, pianists.

IT IS DANGEROUS TO READ NEWSPAPERS (1999) is based on a poem of the same title from the collection The Animals in That Country (1968) by Margaret Atwood. It was recorded by WFMT’s “Live from Studio One” on October 28, 2002, featuring Barbara Ann Martin, soprano; Philip Morehead, piano.

LADDERS OF ANXIETY (2007) for flute/alto flute, guitar and string trio is dedicated to Claire Chase and ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble). It was recorded by WFMT’s “Live from Studio One” on February 4, 2008, featuring Caroline Pittman, flute, James Baur, guitar, and members of the Avalon Quartet.

The title track, GOOD NEWS FALLS GENTLY (1995), a setting for soprano and orchestra of the poetry of Chicago poet/composer Regina Harris Baiocchi, recorded live March 16, 2003 at the Harold Washington Library, Chicago, IL, and performed by CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (Jonita Lattimore, soprano; Philip Morehead, conductor).

There was a CD Release event on September 25th at Elizabeth Stein Company in Chicago.

Pat’s newest work, Metropolis for full orchestra, premiered

Pat’s newest work, Metropolis for orchestra, was premiered by the Chicago Metropolitan Orchestra (formerly the Chicago Businessmans’ Orchestra), which commissioned the work. The premiere took place under the baton of music director Russell Vinick on Sunday, November 13, 2011, in Gottlieb Hall of the Merit School of Music in Chicago. For information on the orchestra, visit their web site at http://www.cmsorch.org.

Pat Morehead to work with Chamber Opera Chicago

Pat will be orchestrating arrangements of period works for Chamber Opera Chicago’s September production of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Barbara Landis, artistic director.

Works by Pat Morehead published by Jeanné, Inc.

The woodwind publisher Jeanné, Inc. has published three works by Pat Morehead. Elegy for English Horn and piano (also versions for clarinet, viola, or saxophone are available) has just appeared (fortuitously in conjunction with the release of a new recording of the work by Carolyn Hove of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on her new disk Eclecticism). Y 2 Klarinets  and Event Horizon for saxophone quartet are also now available.

Music of Pat Morehead featured in school production

Portions of Pat Morehead’s Disquieted Souls and Conversations were used during the imaginative stage production of Alice at the Walter Payton College Prep, Chicago, February 2011. The director, Kerry Catlin, had heard the works when they were performed on WFMT by CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.

Athens Saxophone Quartet performs Morehead “Event Horizon”

Pat’s Event Horizon for saxophone quartet was performed on April 8, 2011 by the Athens Saxophone Quartet at the Society of Composers Region VI Conference 2011 at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO. Pat also presented a paper on Ralph Shapey’s rhythmic practice at the conference.

A new decade for Pat!

Pat is celebrating her 70th birthyear! Four of her works were performed by CUBE Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in a broadcast on WFMT on January 24, 2011. The pieces performed (click on the name to hear the performance): Music for an Abandoned Warehouse, Alaskan Songs, Conversations, and Disquieted Souls.